


You Let Him Get Drunk!

by Stk (Silasthekitty)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Awesome Gwaine (Merlin), Canon Era, Cute, Cute Merlin, Drinking, Drunk Merlin (Merlin), Fluff, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Just to be safe, King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Lancelot (Merlin) Lives, M/M, Merlin is a Little Shit, Merlin lives rent free in my head until I die, No Spoilers, Not Canon Compliant, POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), The rising sun, could be seen as platonic or romantic, goddamnit if I have anything to say about it, isn't he always though?, maybe? - Freeform, somewhere in season 4 perhaps, we just love Gwaine here alright
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27972113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silasthekitty/pseuds/Stk
Summary: You let him getdrunk!orArthur goes to the tavern to find all his knights with a completely drunken Merlin.
Relationships: Knights of the Round Table & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 443





	You Let Him Get Drunk!

**Author's Note:**

> Wow alright it's only been what like three months? Well I'm back with this random story I wrote in one sitting simply because I wanted to write Merthur. And I finally learned how to italicize on AO3, I am so happy. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it.

“You let him get _drunk_!” 

Arthur had gone to Gaius’s chambers earlier that night on the pretense of speaking with his manservant. Arthur had given Merlin the night off. There was no real reason that Arthur had to go looking for Merlin, in all honesty, he just missed the boy’s company. Not that he would ever admit it. Merlin was pretty good at figuring out what Arthur was asking for without him having to actually ask for it anyway. Besides, the king was sure that he could come up with a reasonable excuse by the time he found Merlin. 

When he got there, Arthur expected to see Merlin sitting at the table eating dinner with Gaius. Instead, the physician was mixing some tonic at his work table. The room smelled of soup, so Arthur knew that dinner had been finished. Yet, there was an untouched bowl of it out on the table for Merlin. 

“Ah sire, is there something I can do for you?” Gaius asked, finishing up with whatever task he had been focused on. 

“Is Merlin here?” 

“No, I thought he was with you. He usually is at this time,” Gaius replied, looking at Arthur.

“I had given him the night off, but I needed to speak with him. I thought he would be here.”

“Well sire, I would check the tavern. I heard him say something about the knights inviting him out for drinks one day this week.”

“Of course,” Arthur huffed, “Thank you, Gaius.” The physician bowed his head as Arthur turned to leave. Now, he had to go all the way outside the citadel to find his idiotic manservant.

Arthur could hear the knights’ laughter before he even made it through the door. Sure enough, when the king entered, all the knights’ were sitting at a table in the middle of the tavern. They were all laughing at someone but Arthur couldn’t tell who from his view at the door. 

Moving towards the table, Arthur realized who was the source of the commotion. It was Merlin! He sat at the table, Gwaine and Lancelot on either side of him. His cheeks were rosy, and a huge grin split across his face. 

Merlin said something too quiet for Arthur to hear, but whatever it was brought forth another round of laughter from the knights. The boy peered up at each of the knights, beaming. The sight made Arthur’s heart stutter. 

He continued on his way to the table, stopping beside Leon. The knights all turned to him with a variety of sire’s. Well, all except Gwaine. He just managed a “Hey Princess.”

The last person to turn towards the king was his manservant. When Merlin noticed Arthur, he gasped eyes widening. “Arthur!” the boy shouted, and he shot out of his seat. Merlin practically threw himself around the table at the king, nearly falling flat on his face. 

Arthur caught him by the shoulders, and Merlin leaned all his weight on the king. Merlin’s hands came to rest on Arthur’s cheeks. “Arthur you’re here! Told the knights you’d come find me, but they din’t believe me!” His sentence ended in a pout, lips curling downwards. 

Chuckles from the knights could be heard all around the two. The king stood there shocked for a moment. Was Merlin drunk?! He asked the boy, and the reply he got was, “Well, maybe a little.”

At Arthur’s frown, Merlin’s eyes began to shine. He grabbed Arthur’s tunic in uncoordinated hands. “M’ sorry, Arthur! Din’t mean to make you ’set. Please, dn- don’t be mad.”

Furrowed eyebrows replaced Arthur’s frown. He had never seen Merlin drunk before. It is known that Merlin is very open with his emotions, but drunk he seemed to be unpredictable. 

Arthur was quick to reassure his manservant. “No, no Merlin I’m not mad, okay?” Well, not at Merlin. The man in question searched Arthur’s face, eyes clouded with hesitant disbelief. “I promise Merlin, you utter girl.” 

Merlin smiled at that, and his eyes lit again. Long arms wound their way behind Arthur’s neck. His heart had kept its stutter, and Arthur refused to acknowledge the blush heating his cheeks. 

“Wow Princess, looks like someone really missed you.” 

The trance Arthur was in broke as soon as Gwaine opened his mouth. Boy did he have some things to say to Gwaine. The man liked to drink, and that was fine with Arthur. But getting Merlin drunk? The boy was skinnier than almost everyone in the castle, there was no way he could hold his weight against Camelot’s finest knights. The rest of the knights weren’t off the hook either, they were all responsible here. 

“Merlin, why don’t you go sit with Lancelot for a little bit? I wanna talk with the other knights about something,” Arthur prompted, feeling the anger from earlier return. 

For a second, Merlin looked as if he was about to get upset again, then Lancelot spoke up. “Yeah Merls, come here. Why don’t we go and get something to eat. I know you’re starving.” The knight got out of his seat and held out a hand.

Merlin looked to Arthur one last time, debating whether to go, before making his way towards Lancelot. He swayed the whole way to the bar, and without the hand holding his, Arthur was sure his manservant would have tipped over. 

“We'll b’ back, guys,” Merlin stated. Lancelot looked over his shoulder at Arthur, and the king gave him an appreciative nod. At least there was one responsible knight here. 

As soon as the two were far enough away, Arthur spun towards the other knights. “You let him get _drunk_!” Arthur’s shout rattled through the tavern.

Leon and Percival had the decency to look somewhat contrite. Elyan had a hesitant look on his face. Gwaine, the bastard, just looked amused! A smug grin was settled on his face. 

“Oh come on Arthur, can’t you let Merls have any fun? You were the one who gave him the night off, so technically you don’t have a say in what he does. Plus Merlin makes a cute drunk doesn’t he?”

Arthur gaped at that and felt the definitely-not-a-blush heat spread deeper on his face. If anyone asked, he could chalk it up to the heat in the tavern. “I’m not saying he can’t have fun, what I’m saying is you guys are supposed to keep him from having too much fun! He’s not going to remember any of this tomorrow, and he has one massive headache waiting for him. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t empty the entire contents of his stomach tonight.” 

Gwaine’s grin fell off his face, and he narrowed his eyes at Arthur. He stared straight into Arthur’s eyes, not looking away, or saying anything. Just as it was beginning to get freaky, Gwaine straightened in his seat. The smile returned to his face, just as smug as before. 

For all the hours he had spent in the tavern that night, Gwaine didn’t look drunk at all. He seemed to be the most sober of all the knights, with the only exception being Lancelot, but that man had never enjoyed drinking like his friends. 

“You’re faḉade of anger isn’t working Princess. You were worried about Merlin when he came in, and when you saw he was drunk, well it scared you a bit didn’t it. People are awfully vulnerable when they’re drunk.”

Before Arthur could snap at the knight, Merlin came bounding back over to the table holding a pastry. Lancelot trailed behind him with a basket of fruit and bread. Gwaine snatched an apple as he walked past. “I got him to eat some bread, and the barmaid insisted on giving him a treat when she saw he was, well, utterly drunk. She found it cute,” Lancelot said sitting back down.

“See, I was right!” Gwaine said after a laugh.

Arthur just rolled his eyes in response. It was getting to be too late to deal with Gwaine sober, and he wasn’t drinking anything tonight. 

As if Merlin had read the king’s mind, he yawned, eyes fluttering. Arthur decided that it was time to get Merlin to bed. He figured the knights would agree. “Alright, Merlin we should get you to bed. You’re about to fall asleep where you stand. Say your goodbyes,” Arthur said pulling his manservant towards him.

“But ‘m not- not tired,” Merlin protested. But the purpose was defeated when a yawn interrupted the boy. He relented at the look Arthur gave him and pulled away to give each knight a bumbling hug. 

“Bye, my knights!” Merlin called as Arthur led him to the door, blowing kisses. The knights all laughed before blowing him one of their own. Merlin giggled. 

Once they were outside, Arthur adjusted Merlin so he could support his weight better. And just as expected, Merlin leaned on the king a few seconds later. Arthur knew Merlin was skinny, but he thought the boy would be heavier. At least if something happened while they were away from Camelot, Arthur could carry him with little struggle. 

The journey back was quiet for a while. Merlin was content to just rest against Arthur. It left Arthur with time to think about Merlin. Begrudgingly, he had to admit Gwaine was right, Merlin does make a pretty adorable drunk. And maybe he was right about the rest too. 

“Arthur?” came a soft voice.

“Yeah?” the king replied.

It was quiet for a few more moments, then Merlin spoke again. 

“I love you.” Merlin looked at Arthur, and Arthur turned to stare back into his eyes.

“I love you too.” The king was surprised at how naturally it came to say, but he supposed he shouldn't have been.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave kudos and comments, I love to read them. They feed my heart.
> 
> Also, I got a new Wattpad under this account name. I'm wondering if I should cross post on there? Let me know because I'm not sure yet.


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